IT is the diet that lets you butter your bread, eat a wedge of cheese and enjoy a glass of wine – if you limit your calories for two days a week.

Loved by celebrities including Beyonce and Liv Tyler, the 5:2 diet allows followers to eat normally for five days and then fast on 500 calories for two days.

And if you’re hoping to be beach body-ready as soon as possible, the simple eating plan promises results in just a matter of weeks – without damaging your health.

In tomorrow’s Daily Record, we show you how to use the 5:2 diet to slim into your bikini for the summer, explaining how it works and introducing you to the simple and tasty meals you can eat on fast days.

Then in the Sunday Mail we will bring you more delicious recipes to make sticking to the eating plan easy.

Here we speak to three 5:2 devotees who credit the healthy living plan with helping them beat the bulge.

JAC MILES

Housewife and mother-of-two Jac Miles has tried every diet but said the 5:2 plan not only helped her regain her figure – but keep the weight off, too.

Since starting the diet in January, she has managed to shed more than a stone and described it as a way of life rather than just a diet.

Jac, 41, of Torrance, Dunbartonshire, said: “I fast on Mondays and Wednesdays but if something gets in the way then I just switch to Tuesdays and Thursdays. It’s really flexible.

“The first couple of weeks are hard – after that it’s easy.

“When I started, I would go to bed hungry but your body gets used to it.

“You only fast for one day at a time and then you can eat normally.

“When I began, I was probably the larger end of a size 12, sometimes a 14, and now I tend to be a size 10 – so the results have been great.

“I’ve lost a stone in total. I’ve experimented with diets throughout my 20s and 30s but this really does seem to be the best one for me.

“The good thing about 5:2 is that I don’t feel like I’m dieting. It’s just part of life and I have no plans to stop.

“It works well for families, too. I bought a recipe book that has lots of good ideas for low-calorie meals.

“One is a sweet potato chilli, which my children love. That’s what makes it easy, knowing I don’t have to make several different meals.

“My children have rice with their dish, while I don’t if I’m fasting. I’ve even got my husband doing it.

“I have the odd week off if I’m on holiday but I slip back into it when I’m home – it’s part of my routine now.”

GILLIAN HENRY

After hearing about the 5:2 diet on television’s Horizon, Gillian Henry was intrigued by the health benefits it could bring.

The 46-year-old nurse, from Glasgow, started the plan last year and has lost more than a stone and a half, taking her from a size 16 to a trim size 12.

She said: “I wanted to find a diet that I could work with and would help me to slim down, so I decided to give the 5:2 a go.

“The first week was tough as your body is not used to being starved but gradually it does start to adapt.

“When I’m fasting, I have a routine. I have a cup of coffee in the morning along with a small bowl of porridge. I used to make this with water, although I now add a little semi-skimmed milk.

“For lunch I have something like a can of soup or a green salad – a meal I try to keep under 100 calories – then for dinner I have something like veg or maybe some chicken and salad.

“I still have three meals a day and I couldn’t do it any other way. On the days that I’m not fasting, I am still very healthy. That’s what this diet does, it makes you aware of the calorie intake of everything you eat.

“I treat myself at the weekends but during the week I avoid the snacks. I also do a lot of walking, which I think also helps to keep my weight down.

“It’s a lifestyle change. There is no great secret to it. Eat a little less and move a little more.”

JULIE GEMMEL

When Julie piled on 2st, she knew she had to do something to regain her size 10 figure.

The 5:2 plan was recommended to her by a close friend and she has managed to shed the excess, leaving her feeling fitter then ever.

The area sales manager, 39, from Glasgow, said: “When I started the diet, I was a size 12 to 14. I have never been particularly overweight.

“However, last year I gained around a stone due to illness. I was keen to shift the weight and kick-start a healthy lifestyle and I’ve found the 5:2 plan does just that.

“I’m now back down to a trim size 10. It was tough to start with and the first couple of weeks of fasting were particularly difficult.

“I was going to bed hungry but I pushed through and kept going and found the diet really worked for me.

“By the end of the first month, I was comfortable with it and fasting no longer bothered me.

“It really is amazing how far 500 calories can go. I tend to fast on Mondays and Wednesdays when I will skip breakfast and have something like a tuna salad for my lunch.

“For dinner, there are a lot of options and I’ll make meals like chicken and vegetables or sweet potato chilli.

“On fasting days, I tend to eat a lot more protein than carbohydrates. Two main meals is enough to see you through. I also drink a lot of water and cups of tea. After a while, your body stops craving more food.”